Abstract
Although it is widely recognized that coral reef environments support exceptionally diverse communities of fishes, the Variation in diversity from one region of coral reefs to another is not so well known. At the crudest level we can use records of numbers of species from taxonomic surveys to generate a picture of this Variation in diversity. At this regional scale there is at least an order of magnitude Variation from locations such as the Philippines with more than 2000 species recorded, to southwestern Florida where as few as 200 species may occur. A profitable task, but one as yet not undertaken for reef fish, would be a detailed determination of this pattern of Variation on a global scale. Data available at present are sufficient to State that the ceRnter of the Indo–West Pacific region is the region of greatest species richness, with richness declining progressively as one moves away from here. The Caribbean is a lesser center of richness (Sale, 1980). It’s important to note that this Variation in the richness of fish communities in coral reef habitat blends imperceptibly, at the less diverse end, into that of diverse communities in other types of inshore environment. There is no abrupt change in diversity as one enters coral reef habitat.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Anderson, G.R.V., Ehrlich, A.H., Ehrlich, P.R., Roughgarden, J.D., Russell, B.C., and Talbot, F.H.1981. The Community structure of coral reef fishes. Am. Nat. 117, 476–495
Bohnsack, J.A. 1983. Resiliency of reef fish communities in the Florida Keys following a January 1977 hypothermal fish kill. Env. Biol. Fish. 9, 41–54
Brothers, E.B., Williams, D.McB., and Sale, P.F.1983. Length of larval life in twelve families of fishes at "One Tree Lagoon," Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Mar. Biol. 76, 319–324
Bush, G. 1975. Modes of animal speciation. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 6, 339–364
Caswell, H. 1978. Predator-mediated coexistence: A nonequilibrium model. Am. Nat. 112, 127–154
Chesson, PL. 1985. Coexistence of competitors in spatially and temporally varying environ- ments: A look at the combined effects of different sorts of variability. Theor. Pop. Biol. 28, 263–287
Chesson, PL., and Warner, R.R.1981. Environmental variability promotes coexistence in lot-tery competitive systems. Am. Nat. 117, 923–943
Clarke, R.D. 1977. Habitat distribution and species diversity of chaetodontid and pomacentrid fishes near Bimini, Bahamas. Mar. Biol. 40, 277–289
Connell, J.H. 1978. Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs. Science 199, 1302–1310
Davies, P.J., and Montaggioni, L.1985. Reef growth and sea level change: the environmental signature. Fifth Int. Coral Reef Congr. Proc. 3, 477–511
Den Boer, P.J. 1968. Spreading of risk and stabilization of animal numbers. Acta Biotheor. 18, 165–194
Den Boer, PJ. 1981. On the survival of populations in a heterogeneous and variable environment. Oecologia 50, 39–53
Diamond, J.M., and Case, T.J. (eds.) 1986. Community Ecology. Harper and Row, New York
Digerfeldt, G., and Hendry, M.D.1987. An 8000 year Holocene sea-level record from Jamaica: Implications for Interpretation of Caribbean reef and coastal history. Coral Reefs 5, 165–169
Doherty, PJ. 1980. Biological and physical constraints on the population of two sympatric territorial damselfishes on the southern Great Barrier Reef. Unpub. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Sydney
Doherty, RJ. 1982. Some effects of density on the juveniles of two species of tropical, territorial damselfish. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 65, 249–261
Doherty, RJ.1983a. Tropical territorial damselfishes: Is density limited by aggression or recruitment? Ecology 64, 176–190
Doherty, RJ.1983b. Diel, lunar and seasonal rhythms in the reproduction of two tropical damselfishes: Pomacentrus flavicauda and P. wardi. Mar. Biol. 75, 215–224
Doherty, RJ., and Sale, P.F.1986. Predation on juvenile coral reef fishes: An exclusion experiment. Coral Reefs 4, 225–234
Doherty, P.J., Williams, D.McB., and Sale, P.F.1985. The adaptive significance of larval dispersal in coral reef fishes. Env. Biol. Fish. 12, 81–90
Done, T.J. 1985. Effects of two Acanthaster outbreaks on coral Community structure: The meaning of devastation. Fifth Int. Coral Reef Congr. Proc. 5, 315–320
Eckert, G.J. 1984. Annual and spatial Variation in recruitment of labroid fishes among seven reefs in the Capricorn/Bunker Group, Great Barrier Reef. Mar. Biol. 78, 123–127
Eckert, G.J. 1985. Population studies on labrid fishes on the southern Great Barrier Reef. Unpub. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Sydney
Endler, J.A. 1977. Geographie Variation, Speciation, and Clines. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ
Fowler, A.J. 1987. The development of sampling strategies for population studies of coral reef fishes: A case study. Coral Reefs 6, 49–58
Glynn, P.W. 1983. Extensive "bleaching" and death of reef corals on the Pacific coast of Panama. Env. Conserv. 10, 149–154
Goldman, B., and Talbot, F.H.1976. Aspects of the ecology of coral reef fishes. In: Jones, O A., and Endean, R. (eds.), Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs, Vol. 3, Academic Press, New York, pp. 125–154
Greenfield, D., and Greenfield, T.A.1982. Habitat and resource partitioning between two species of Acanthemblemaria (Pisces: Chaenopsidae), with comments on the chaos hypothesis. Smithson. Contrib. Mar. Sei. 12, 499-507
Harmelin-Vivien, M.L., and Bouchon-Navarro, Y.1982. Trophic relationships among chaetodontid fishes in the Gulf of Aqaba. Fourth Int. Coral Reef Symp., Manila 1981, Proc. 2, 538–544
Hastings, A. 1987. Can competition be detected using species co-occurrence data? Ecology 68, 117–123
Hiatt, R.W., and Strasburg, D.W.1960. Ecological relationships of the fish fauna on coral reefs of the Marshall Islands. Ecol. Monogr. 30, 65–127
Hobson, E.S. 1974. Feeding relationships of teleostean fishes on coral reefs in Kona, Hawaii. Fishery Bull. 72, 915–1031
Huffaker, C.B. 1958. Experimental studies on predation: dispersion factors and predator-prey oscillations. Hilgardia 27, 343–383
Hutchinson, G.E. 1957. Concluding remarks. Cold Spr. Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. 22, 415–427
Johannes, R.E. 1978. Reproductive strategies of coastal marine fishes in the tropics. Env. Biol. Fish. 3, 65–84
Jones, G.P. 1986. Food availability affects growth in a coral reef fish. Oecologia 70, 136–139
Jones, G.P. 1987. Competitive interactions among adults and juveniles in a coral reef fish. Ecology 68, 1534–1547
Lassig, B.R. 1983. The effect of a cyclonic storm on coral reef fish assemblages. Env. Biol. Fish. 9, 55–64
Lessios, H.A., Cubit, J.D., Robertson, D.R., Shulman, M.J., Parker, M.R., Garrity, S.D., and Levings, S.C.1984. Mass mortality of Diadema antillarum on the Caribbean coast of Panama. Coral Reefs 3, 173–182
Low, R.M. 1971. Interspecific territoriality in a pomacentrid reef fish, Pomacentrus flavicauda Whitley. Ecology 52, 648–654
Marshall, J.F., and Davies, P.J. 1982. Internal structure and holocene evolution of One Tree Reef, southern Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 1, 21–28
Molles, M.C. 1978. Fish species diversity on model and natural reef patches: Experimental insular biogeography. Ecol. Monogr. 48, 289–305
Munro, J.L., and Williams, D.McB.1985. Assessment and management of coral reef fisheries: Biological, Environmental and socio-economic aspects. Fifth Int. Coral Reef Congr., Proc. 4, 545–578
Nagelkerken, W.P 1981. Distribution and ecology of the groupers (Serranidae) and snappers (Lutjanidae) of the Netherlands Antilles. Publ. Found. Sei. Res. Surinam and Netherl. Antilles 107, 1–71
Nagelkerken, W.P 1982. Distribution of the groupers and snappers of the Netherlands Antilles. Fourth Int. Coral Reef Symp., Manila, 1981, Proc. 2, 480–484
Ogden, J.C., and Ehrlich, P.R.1977. The behavior of heterotypic resting schools of juvenile grunts (Pomadasyidae). Mar. Biol. 42, 273–280
Paine, R.T., and Levin, S.A.1981. Intertidal landscapes: Disturbance and the dynamics of pattern. Ecol. Monogr. 51, 145–178
Peters, R.H. 1976. Tautology in evolution and ecology. Am. Nat. 110, 1–12
Platt, W.S. 1975. The colonization and formation of equilibrium plant species associations on badger disturbances in a tall-grass prairie. Ecol. Monogr. 45, 285–305
Platt, W.S., and Weis, I.M.1985. An experimental study of competition among fugitive prairie plants. Ecology 66, 708–720
Potts, D.C.1982. Crown-of-thorns starfish: Man-induced pest or natural phenomenon? In: Kitching, R., and Jones, R.E. (eds.), The Ecology of Pests, CSIRO, Melbourne, pp. 54–86
Randall, J.E. 1967. Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. 5, 665–847
Robertson, D.R. 1973. Field observations on the reproductive behaviour of a pomacentrid fish, Acanthochromis polyacanthus. Z. Tierpsychol. 32, 319–324
Robertson, D.R. 1982. Fish feces as fish food on a paeifie coral reef. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 7, 253–265
Robertson, D.R., Hoffman, S.G., and Sheldon, J.M. 1981. Availability of space for the territorial Caribbean damselfish Eupomacentrus planifrons. Ecology 62, 1162–1169
Robertson, D.R., Polunin, N.V.C., and Leighton, K. 1979. The behavioral ecology of three Indian Ocean surgeonfishes (Acanthurus lineatus, A. leueosternon and Zebrasoma scopas): Their feeding strategies, and social and mating systems. Env. Biol. Fish. 4, 125–170
Robertson, D.R., and Sheldon, J.M.1979. Competitive interactions and the availability of sleeping sites for a diurnal coral reef fish. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 40, 285–298
Robertson, D.R., Sweatman, H.P.A., Fletcher, E.A., and Cleland, M.G.1976. Schooling as a mechanism for circumventing the territoriality of competitors. Ecology 57, 1208–1222
Root, R.B., and Kareiva, P.M. 1984. The search for resources by cabbage butterflies (Pieris rapae): Ecological consequences and adaptive significance of Markovian movements in a patchy environment. Ecology 65, 147–165
Ross, S.T. 1986. Resource partitioning in fish assemblages: A review of field studies. Copeia 1986, 352–388
Roughgarden, J.D. 1974. Species packing and the competition funetion with illustrations from coral reef fish. Theor. Pop. Biol. 5, 163–186
Sale, PF. 1972. Influence of corals in the dispersion of the pomacentrid fish, Dascyllus aruanus. Ecology 53, 741–744
Sale, P.F 1976. The effect of territorial adult pomacentrid fishes on the recruitment and survival of juveniles on patches of coral rubble. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 24, 297–306
Sale, P.F. 1977. Maintenance of high diversity in coral reef fish communities. Am. Nat. 111, 337–359
Sale, PF. 1978. Reef fishes and other vertebrates: A comparison of social struetures. In: Reese, E.S., and Lighter, E.J. (eds.), Contrasts in Behavior. Adaptations in the Aquatic and Terrestrial Environments, Wiley, New York, pp. 313–346
Sale, RF. 1980. The ecology of fishes on coral reefs. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Annu. Rev. 18, 367–421
Sale, RF. 1985. Patterns of recruitment in coral reef fishes. Fifth Int. Coral Reef Congr., Proc. 5, 391–396
Sale, P.F. 1988. Perception, pattern, chance, and the structure of reef fish communities. Env. Biol. Fish. 21, 3–15
Sale, P.F., Doherty, P.J., Eckert, G.J., Douglas, W.A., and Ferrell, DJ.1984a. Large scale spatial and temporal Variation in recruitment to fish populations on coral reefs. Oecologia 64, 191–198
Sale, P.F., and Douglas, W.A.1984. Temporal variability in the Community structure of fish on coral patch reefs and the relation of Community structure to reef structure. Ecology 65, 409–422
Sale, P.F., Douglas, W.A., and Doherty, P.J.1984b. Choice of microhabitats by coral reef fishes at settlement. Coral Reefs 3, 91–99
Sale, P.F., and Dybdahl, R.1975. Determinants of Community structure for coral reef fishes in an experimental habitat. Ecology 56, 1343–1355
Sale, P.F., and Dybdahl, R.1978. Determinants of Community structure for coral reef fishes in isolated coral heads at lagoonal and reef slope sites. Oecologia 34, 57–74
Sale, P.F., Eckert, G.J., Ferrell, D.J., Fowler, A.J., Jones, T.A., Mapstone, B.D., and Steel, W.J.1986. Demography of selected aquarium fishes and implications for the management of their collection. Unpub. final report to Great Barrier Reef Marine Pärk Authority
Sale, P.F., and Ferrell, D.J.,in press. Early survivorship of juvenile coral reef fishes. Coral Reefs, in press
Sale, P.F., and Steel, W.J.1986. Random placement and the structure of reef fish communities. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 28, 165–174
Sale, P.F., and Williams, D.McB.1982. The ecology of coral reef fishes: are the patterns more than those expected by chance? Am. Nat. 120, 121–127
Sano, M., Shimizu, M., and Nose, Y. 1984a. Food habits of teleostean reef fishes in Okinawa Island, southern Japan. Univ. Mus. Univ. Tokyo, Bull. 25, 1–128
Sano, M., Shimizu, M., and Nose, Y. 1984b. Changes in structure of coral reef fish communities by destruction of hermatypic corals: Observational and experimental views. Pacific Sei. 38, 51–79
Schroeder, R.E. 1985. Recruitment rate patterns of coral reef fishes at Midway lagoon (northwestern Hawaiian Islands). Fifth Int. Coral Reef Congr., Proc. 5, 379–384
Shulman, M.J. 1985. Recruitment of coral reef fishes: effects of distribution of predators and shelter. Ecology 66, 1056–1066
Smith, C.L., and Tyler, J.C. 1972. Space resource sharing in a coral reef fish Community. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles Cty. Sei. Bull. 14, 125–170
Smith, C.L., and Tyler, J.C. 1975. Succession and stability in fish communities of dome-shaped patch reefs in the West Indies. Am. Mus. Novitates 2572, 1–18
Sousa, W.P. 1981. Disturbance in the marine intertidal boulder fields: The nonequilibrium maintenance of species diversity. Ecology 60, 1225–1239
Sousa, W.P. 1984. Intertidal mosaics: Patch size, propagule availability, and spatially variable patterns of succession. Ecology 65, 1918–1935
Stark, W.A., and Schroeder, R.E. 1970. Investigations on the grey snapper, Lutjanus griseus. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. 10, 1–224
Strong, D.R., Simberloff, D.S., Abele, L.G., and Thistle, A. (eds.). 1984. Ecological communities: Conceptual issues and the evidence. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ
Sweatman, H.P.A. 1983. Influence of conspecifics on choice of settlement sites by larvae of two pomacentrid reef fishes (Dascyllus aruanus and D. reticulatus) on coral reefs. Mar. Biol. 75, 225–229
Sweatman, H.P.A. 1985. The influence of adults of some coral reef fishes on larval recruitment. Ecol. Monogr. 55, 46–485
Talbot, F.H., Russell, B.C., and Anderson, G.R.V. 1978. Coral reef fish communities: Unstable, high-diversity systems? Ecol. Monogr. 49, 425–440
Thompson, R., and Munro, J.L. 1978. Aspects of the biology and ecology of Caribbean reef fishes: Serranidae (hinds and groupers). J. Fish. Biol. 12, 115–146
Thresher, R.E. 1984. Reproduction in reef fishes. T.F.H. Publ., Neptune City, NJ
Victor, B.C. 1982. Daily otolith increments and recruitment in two coral reef wrasses, Thalassoma bifasciatum and Halichoeres bivittatus. Mar. Biol. 71, 203–208
Victor, B.C. 1986. Larval settlement and juvenile mortality in a recruitment-limited coral reef fish population. Ecol. Monogr. 56, 145–160
Waldner, R.E., and Robertson, D.R. 1980. Patterns of habitat partitioning by eight species of territorial Caribbean damselfishes (Pisces: Pomacentridae). Bull. Mar. Sei. 30, 171–186
Walker, M.H. 1978. Food and feeding habits of Lethrinus chrysostomus Richardson (Pisces: Pereiformes) and other lethrinids on the Great Barrier Reef. Aust. J. Mar. Freshw. Res. 29, 623–630
Walsh, W.J. 1987. Patterns of recruitment and spawning in Hawaiian reef fishes. Env. Biol. Fish. 18, 257–276
Warner, R.R., and Chesson, PL. 1985. Coexistence mediated by recruitment fluetuations: A field guide to the storage effect. Am. Nat. 125, 769–787
Williams, D.McB.1980. Dynamics of the pomacentrid Community on small patch reefs in One Tree Lagoon (Great Barrier Reef). Bull. Mar. Sei. 30, 159–170
Williams, D.McB.1983. Daily, monthly and yearly variability in recruitment of a guild of coral reef fishes. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 10, 231–237
Williams, D.McB.1986. Temporal Variation in the structure of reef slope fish communities (central Great Barrier Reef): short-term effects of Acanthaster planci infestation. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 28, 157–164
Williams, D.McB., and Sale, P.F. 1981. Spatial and temporal patterns of recruitment of juvenile coral reef fishes to coral habitats within One Tree Lagoon, Great Barrier Reef. Mar. Biol. 65, 245–253
Williams, D.McB., Wolanski, E.R., and Andrews, J.C. 1984. Transport mechanisms and the potential movement of planktonic larvae in the central region of the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 3, 229–236
Woodley, J.D., Chornesky, E.A., Clifford, P.A., Jackson, J.B.C., Kaufman, L.S., Knowlton, N., Lang, J.C., Pearson, M.P., Porter, J.W., Rooney, M.C., Rylaarsdam, K.W., Tunnicliffe, V.J., Wahle, C.M., Wulff, J.L., Curtis, A.S.G., Dalimeyer, M.D., Jupp, B.P, Kochl, M.A.R., Neigel, J., and Sides, E.M. 1981. Hurricane Allen’s impact on Jamaican coral reefs. Science 214, 749–755
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Springer Verlag New York, Inc
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sale, P.F. (1989). Diversity of the Tropics: Causes of High Diversity in Reef Fish Systems. In: Harmelin-Vivien, M.L., Bourlière, F. (eds) Vertebrates in Complex Tropical Systems. Ecological Studies, vol 69. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3510-1_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3510-1_1
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8133-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3510-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive